URI-town consortium turns former disposal, industrial sites into solar farms

Clean energy project, one of New England’s largest, also has economic benefits

Posted on November 29, 2018

The solar panel field in West Kingston is located on a capped waste disposal site. It was developed and is owned by Kearsarge Energy as part of the URI-led South Kingstown Solar Consortium, which includes the towns of Narragansett and South Kingstown. (URI photo/Nora Lewis)

KINGSTON, R.I., Nov. 29, 2018 — The University of Rhode Island and the towns of South Kingstown and Narragansett have created the South Kingstown Solar Consortium to develop an ambitious solar power project that will generate economic benefits for all three partners while boosting the amount of renewable energy flowing into the state’s electric grid.

In the works for more than three years, the project is among the largest solar power initiatives in New England. When complete, it will cover 267 acres — in West Kingston, South Kingstown and West Greenwich.

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